Belmont Police Department - Support Services Bureau
School Resource Officers

The School Resource Officers for the Belmont Police Department fall under the direction of the Support Services Bureau Commander.

School Resource Officers (SRO) are responsible for the safety of all students, teachers, support staff and visitors within the three schools in Belmont.  The two officers patrol the schools, assist administration, teachers and staff, mentor and work with the students, teach safety programs and coach sports and work to improve relations within the educational community.

The goal of the SRO is to prevent juvenile delinquency by promoting positive relations between youth and law enforcement. The SRO position encompasses three major components: Law enforcement, education, and counseling. These three components allow the SRO to take a positive approach to law enforcement.

The Belmont Police Department, through the efforts of Ofc. Richard Bryant, has been working to reduce juvenile and family crimes through not only prosecution, but intervention. 

Ofc. Richard Bryant, who retired from the Belmont Police Department, after more than 20 years of service has returned part time in the primary function of our Juvenile Prosecutor.  Ofc. Bryant continues to utilize the skills that he used as an SRO Practitioner for the Belmont High School and uses that in conjunction with the prosecutorial job to work with all of our schools to help prevent family and juvenile crimes.  He works with our other SRO, Ofc. Marcello, the police department staff, school staff, the courts, families and outside agencies to attempt to reduce our juvenile issues.  This is an on-going issue with everyone involved but the Town, through the Belmont Police and the School District have committed themselves to working on this. 

Ofc, Bryant, besides being our Juvenile Prosecutor, obtained the status of a National SRO Practitioner.  To obtain this status, the applicant must be or have been a school resource officer for a minimum of three years; they also must complete a National Association School Resource Officer (N.A.S.R.O.) approved 40-hour Basic School Resource Officer training course, along with a N.A.S.R.O. approved 24-hour Advanced SRO or Supervisor training course. The applicant will require an additional 160 hours of specialized police in-service training, and have attended at least one National SRO Conference. Upon completing the necessary requirements, the applicant must complete and submit a formal application along with attached supporting documentation of all training attended.

Ofc. Joseph Marcello is the SRO for both the Belmont Middle and Elementary School.  Ofc. Marcello is working toward his Practitioner level status and has already completed his basic training class.  He is our primary D.A.R.E. Officer, is our secondary Juvenile Prosecutor, teaches safety programs to the students and is the Post Advisor for the Belmont Police Explorer Post.

Both officers still work patrol shifts during school vacations to maintain their law enforcement proficiency, they enforce motor vehicle laws before or after school in the school zones, they investigate crimes that occur on school grounds, address safety issues and work with the Belmont Fire Department to protect the school population.  They are also tremendous resources to our agency, the district, the students, faculty and parents.

Both officers have continually demonstrated a commitment to the school community, youth and families of the Town of Belmont.